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Advent Prayer - Pakistan

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Published: Saturday 03 December 2011

Advent Prayer - Pakistan

Project(s): 00-634, 41-919, 41-645, 41-432, 41-948

Country: Pakistan, South and East Asia

“A star will come out of Jacob; a sceptre will rise out of Israel.” Numbers 24:17

A Christmas celebration at a Christian women’s ministry in that, with support from Barnabas, provides incomegenerating training courses, literacy courses and workshops on women’s health

“As a Christian, I believe Jesus is my strength. He has given me a power and wisdom and motivation to serve suffering humanity. I am ready to die and sacrifice my life for the principles I believe.” Shahbaz Bhatti, the first-ever Christian in Pakistan’s federal cabinet, was assassinated on 2 March 2011 in Islamabad by members of the Pakistani Taliban. Another prominent politician, Salman Taseer, a Muslim, was murdered by his bodyguard on 2 January 2011. Both were killed because of their opposition to Pakistan’s “blasphemy law” and defence of Aasia Bibi, a Christian mother of five who has been sentenced to death under it.

Religious extremism and violence against non- Muslims are growing in Pakistan, often fuelled by the notorious “blasphemy laws” and other forms of religious discrimination. The five million Christians in Pakistan, most of whom live in extreme poverty due to widespread social and legal discrimination, are regularly victims. On 30 April 2011 around 3,000 Christians were forced to flee their homes in Gujranwala when hundreds of Muslims ransacked Christian property after a burnt Quran was found in the area. Discrimination also happened during the distribution of aid after the catastrophic floods of 2010 and the new floods in 2011, when Christians were sometimes left out.

The government does little to protect the Christian minority, and crimes against them often go unpunished. Christians may also face false accusations of many kinds, including under the blasphemy law. Barnabas Fund supports Pakistani Christian lawyers who provide legal aid to vulnerable Christians.

An estimated 700 Christian girls are kidnapped annually and forcibly married to their Muslim captors. Pray for the protection of these Christian girls and many others who are targets of sexual assaults by Muslim men. Ask the Lord that they may experience God’s nearness through their ordeal and that justice may be done for them. Pray for the thousands of Christians recovering from floods. Pray that the emergency aid Barnabas Fund sent to those stricken by the new floods will sustain them and that the monthly food packets and rebuilding of homes will help hundreds of Christian families restart their lives.